


Frost Bites

by itz_mckennaj



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: (honestly I am such a nerd for MHA), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Beauty and the Beast Elements, F/M, Inspired by Boku no Hero Academia | My Hero Academia, Journalist!Gavin, M/M, Reed900 Big Bang 2019, Supervillain!Nines, forever unfinished, this was supposed to be with the Reed900 BigBang but I changed stories last minute, won't be continued
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-17
Updated: 2020-02-05
Packaged: 2021-02-08 05:24:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,116
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21470764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itz_mckennaj/pseuds/itz_mckennaj
Summary: ///DISCONTINUED\\\When born powerless in a world filled with different abilities, you’re screwed. But when journalist Gavin Reed wakes up in a cold room, tied to a chair, he knows he’s fucked, and not in the fun way.—The supervillain Nines and journalist Gavin AU no one asked for. At all.
Relationships: Upgraded Connor | RK900/Gavin Reed, minor Gavin Reed/Tina Chen
Comments: 8
Kudos: 83





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> BOY OH BOY OH BOY.
> 
> I wanna get the first chapter out to just, start rolling.
> 
> I wanna thank a lot of people, but I’ll let you get to the story.

_Cold. It’s really fucking cold._ He felt the cloth stuck in his mouth but his eyes gave no clues with a sweaty blindfold in the way. He was sitting on a hard seat, probably a chair, and his back was sore from being stuck in the position for however long it’d been. He knew he was stuck because when he moved he found he was somehow strapped to the chair with something thin, probably zip ties. His legs ached and arms screamed when he began to struggle, doing his best to break the cord trapping him. Gavin was a fighter, he wouldn’t let a little thing like this break him.

After some time, his nose, ears, fingers, and toes were completely numb. Wrists and ankles raw from the rubbing, and it hurt him more to move. His head felt fuzzy and thoughts were like molasses. If he didn’t feel so frozen, he’d keep at pushing his body’s limits. He’d heard stories from friends who worked at hero agencies that the best case for heroes to help a kidnappee is to not alert anyone while trying to escape as to not give the enemy the advantage of your willing defeat. But Gavin couldn’t move anymore, muscles tired and weak, so all he had left was screaming, hoping his voice made it passed the muffling cloth. So when he screamed as loud as he could, he was met with a small, very faint groan. If the rest of his senses weren’t deprived, he knew he wouldn’t have heard it, but he did. With the gag in his mouth, Gavin was sure no one from a distance could hear him, but someone was close enough to. 

“Is anyone out there?” His voice was greatly strained. A creak of wood. A shuffle of clothing. Someone had been close enough to watch him based on the close sound of the movement. “Untie me, you son of a b—“

“I’m sure whatever you wanted to say was going to be very pleasant. But please shut up. You’re already giving me a headache.” The harsh tone of the words were right next to his ear, sending a chill down his spine. 

“Fuck you. You wouldn’t have to worry about it if you let me go.” Dammit, even _he_ could barely hear his own words. He could almost feel his captor roll his eyes as he walked to the front of Gavin’s knees. If the ties weren't around his shins like they were his ankles, he’d try to knee the bastard in the gut from what he could guess was resting there. 

“If you promise to keep your mouth shut and not try anything, I’ll take your bindings off. You can’t escape even if you tried, so save us both from the annoyance and let’s be friends.” The tied-up journalist shrugged the best he could without showing the effort it took to do so. “See? You can be smart.” Gavin felt a pair of freezing hands graze his nape as his gag was removed. In spite, the brunette did his best to gather the rest of the cold saliva that hadn't frozen up and spit, hopefully, in the other male’s face.

“Fuck you.” Gavin growled, fully knowing that his voice did not please his new “friend”. 

“You know. I was going to be nice. I was even thinking of allowing you to say something to your lover when I told her about how you were mine now. That’s off the table now and you didn’t even manage to aim properly to get your satisfaction,” Gavin heard him yawn as panic filled his systems. The soaked cloth, now icy since it was out in the freezing air for those short few moments, was attempted to be shoved back into his mouth. Gavin resisted, clamping his mouth shut and moving away from it.

“Let me—“ His begging words were futile as the gag was just shoved between his teeth. The man tied it painfully tight and added a strong knot that stretched Gavin’s face. When he seemed pleased with the tautness, he gripped the bound man’s hair and forced his head back. The captive winced in pain, grunting softly.

“I’m going to let you think about how you shouldn’t take leniencies for granted while I take a nap. If you are the reason I wake up, I won’t hesitate to cut that pretty face of yours. Maybe add to,” a very cold finger traced a scar he got from a mistake a long time ago, “this.” He left with a cold breath aimed directly into the powerless victim’s ear. 

Gavin didn’t know how long he held his breath after almost silent steps trailed away.

—

Niles had a pounding headache. He couldn’t breathe without some sort of pain shooting down his spine and throughout his back. His mind raced around and around and around. _How was he supposed to keep a hostage alive?_

“Mom said this would be a good idea. Trust mother,” his voice, a whisper. The small sound only backlashed and made his skull ring. “Goddammit.” He fell in his bed and conked out as soon as he landed.

—

He can’t feel his fingers. He still had his jacket on but the restraints didn’t allow him to grab the ends of its sleeves or give him a comfortable way to rub together to generate friction. His lips had to be turning blue, it was inhumanly cold. 

_Pop. _

_Pop. _

_Pop._

Joints creaked along with the floorboards. Fear filled his veins, tears filled his green eyes, and bile filled the back of his throat. Time had passed, quiet and dreadful, but Gavin didn’t believe it had been long enough to take a nap. He heard more of the popping right next to his ear, probably to torment him and make him uncomfortable. 

_Well you’re doing a wonderful job, asshole_. 

“We’re going to try this again now that you’ve had time to think about being respectful to someone who won’t hesitate to snap you in two. Will you be good now?” Petty bastard. Gavin didn’t take submission too well and he saw this as a personal attack. It probably was. He gritted his teeth and nodded, survival was his goal. The frozen fingers from earlier grazed his cheeks again, burning painfully as nails dug into his neck, undoing the tight knot. “No more spitting or no food for you.”

“I’m worth more to you alive than dead,” Gavin muttered, throat tight. 

“You aren’t wrong there, you’re pretty smart when you aren’t utterly reckless.” The bindings on his wrists and biceps came off next, and while he wanted to wring his captor’s neck for that last comment, no powers against a pretty powerful one was _not_ an even playing field. He’d suffer for now. Gavin didn’t move while his shins and ankles were unbound, nor did he when his blindfold finally came off. His eyes adjusted to the lack of light, the darkness in the room still making it difficult to see the other man. 

“Who are you?” 

“That’s the million-dollar question I’d bet. A renowned specialist in heroes and villains not recognizing me kinda hits me right in the heart.” 

His heart stopped for a second. Gavin tried to pour over every piece of research and articles he’d done for his boss, Simon, on the superheroes and supervillains in Detroit. It was what he was known for, but his mind just would not work in this cold. _This fucking cold_. His inner voice screamed at him to get warm. With the gag out from between his teeth, they chattered terribly while his skin burned from the friction he created to not freeze to death. He rubbed the arms of his jacket with stiff hands and tried to hold back how he whimpered in pain when he put too much pressure. Gavin bit his lip and felt the chapped skin while tasting iron on his tongue.

“I’d personally say your power is to be a Master Prick and your supervillain name is Fucktard, b-but I bet it’s some sort of fantasy name like everyone else picks.” The words fell from Gavin’s mouth without going through his filter, so the insults flew into the damp air. Gavin was met with a slap to the face. He jumped out of the chair, knees buckling under him in the process, trying to see where the winner of the ‘asshole of the week’ award was but the light required wasn’t there. 

“Good, little, powerless pets don’t talk back.” His head snapped to the words and he saw bright blue eyes like LEDs in the surrounding black. 

“Then maybe assholes like you shouldn’t give me frostbite—“ he stopped. Recognition and anger flashed in the back of his eyes. “Frostbite. You’re Frostbite aren’t you?” He barked out.

“Maybe, maybe not. But you… you are defenseless against me so you should learn your place. I was nice enough to let you free, after binding you by normal means. Surely, your weak body couldn’t handle my ice around your joints. You’d seize up and struggle and never get out of here alive.” Another deep chill went down Gavin’s spine as the lights of Frostbite’s eyes got closer to his green ones. “You want to get back to your precious Blossom, don’t you?” It looked like he tilted his head as if to act innocent.

“Fuck you,” Gavin whispered and closed his eyes tight to shield himself from the blue. Nails dragged on the olive skin from his left ear to his lips, pain searing from the scratched-in lines. In a quick second, Gavin saw his eyelids turn from black to red and the cold presence was gone. He peeked with his right eye to find a very iced over, abandoned room, but no piercing blue eyes. He brought a hand up to the scratches and was scared to find how numb he’d been since they were deep enough to draw blood but the pain was minimal. His eyes flickered around to the now lit area.

He was in a bland room with only a small desk with drawers and a completely iced over desk chair, a filled bookshelf, a dusty bed, the chair where Gavin was tied down, two oak doors, and no windows. He immediately tried the door by a lightswitch and found there was no handle whatsoever. _Figures_. He tried the other door, hoping for something, but it was just a grimy on-suite bathroom. It was hard to admit defeat, but there really was no way to get out of the room without alerting Frostbite. After some slight investigating, the drawers of the desk in front of him only had the things for writing and a set of clothes he wouldn’t change into. The bookshelf to his right only had comic books and stories about heroes that belonged to a horrible penman named “Niles Stern”. The bed behind him was old looking and seemed about as safe as the villain that had taken him captive, not to mention too small for an adult. The puffy comforter on top was blue and looked like it once was scribbled on by a marker. Under the frame, guided by the looks of folded fabric, Gavin found a box that was sealed up tight with three different padlocks next to some blankets.

In a fit of exhaustion, stress, and surrenderance, Gavin threw himself on to the bed with the extra layers he’d brought from underneath and found a small amount of comfort in the soft quilts and comforter he laid under. His tired muscles found solace in relaxing on top of the mattress instead of finding the dust irritable, the frost-covered pillow too chilly, or the bed itself very cramped. However, he found his curiosity burdened him and he wanted to know what was in that stupid box and who the hell this “Niles” was.

He hated being locked up, but he knew he’d find a way out of there before Tina had to come and save him by negotiation or brute force. He wouldn’t put such a burden on the people’s hero. He couldn’t. 

Gavin would get out of here. But right now, he needed to sleep.

—


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience! I just got a laptop for Christmas (it's a chromebook so nothing horribly amazing) and I can finally work on projects easier. Hope you all had a happy holidays and a great new year!
> 
> Side Note: When I originally thought of this story, I uh... Didn't remember that Blossom was a Powerpuff girl... I have to stick with it now but like, I laugh a lot when I think too hard about it lmao
> 
> Side note #2: kind of more of a world build chapter but there is some progress

This headache was going to kill him. He wanted to carve out his skull just to remove the pounding feeling behind his eyes. His whole body was taking a toll because of it; some parts of his outer layer of skin were burned in some spots and dried out in others. His internal organs were unhappy with him as well, his lungs and stomach ached for some kind of healthy intake of their needs, and his heart raced to try minimizing his power’s kickback. Nines _ hated _his powers, especially at times like these where he’d hurt himself without any way to stop it.

He’s starting to think it’s because of his new pest, Gavin Raymond Reed. An overgrown brat without a drop of integrity in his body. It had been approximately ninety-one hours since Nines dragged the new annoyance into his home, and Nines was already planning how to make the nuisance’s death very painful. He was starting to wish his punch had hit just a little bit harder and Gavin Reed wouldn’t currently be disrupting his sleep with constant chatter. But, the thing with hostages is that you have to keep them alive. 

The little bug ran a column in the weekly Century magazine called “Reed Insight”. It documented the lives of their local heroes and gave in-depth reports on the villains too. Not that the in-depth reports were at all correct. Reed’s informants obviously were not very great at their jobs since Nines could always pick out false information that was clearly slander, but the public ate it up. It made the civilians feel more in control. 

Nines read the article every week like the rest of Detroit, interested in seeing what mistakes he would make that time. The only person he had never done an article on was Frostbite. It kind of pissed him off. Maybe he hadn’t yet because he was too close to the situation, being in some sort of relationship with Blossom and all. Nines wouldn’t have even found out if it wasn’t for their carelessness during Blossom’s interviews they showed on TV. Reed was always the interviewer of superheroes due to his “knowledge of superheroes” since he himself lacked powers, giving him “no bias”. At least it’s what he claimed. 

However, he always seemed different during Blossom’s interviews. The reporter was way too close for no familiarity, spouting apparent inside jokes, quirky remarks that would make her laugh, and just an overwhelming amount of affection that most people wouldn’t notice. But Nines did. It wasn’t hard for Nines to find out information on the man, being a top Century writer and all. 

Gavin was born in October of 2002 and grew up in a small suburb outside of Detroit and attended a private all-boys school. After graduating in 2021, he went to Wayne State and got his bachelor’s degree. He worked as a bartender at a place called Jimmy’s Bar until he finally got a job at Century. He only had to work four years before getting his column and becoming a known figure in Detroit with his take on heroes and villains alike. 

When he first sought out the information on Reed, Mother had made a fit about wasting time on a known Powerless, but Nines persisted. He knew there was a lead, and soon Mother agreed with the seeking, even giving an endgame.

“Take this Gavin Reed as a hostage and use him as a bargaining chip against Blossom. Present him as a trade for the city. If you rule Detroit, you’ll be able to take over the nation.” 

Nines always listens to Mother, so it’s exactly what he did. She would soon praise him for his good work, and she’d treat him to something special. He didn’t want to mess anything up and be naughty. Naughty kids go to time out, like Eights did. Eights didn’t do what Mother said, so Mother sent him to time out. Nines was lucky that the only time he was bad, she scarred his face as a reminder. 

Because Eights was sent to time out a long time ago, and Nines hasn’t seen his brother since.

—

The phenomena had started in the early 1600s. A child was born with magical abilities that were unknown by man at the time. People refused to accept what was starting and burned their witches, but those who stayed safe passed down their magic and soon everyone started to grow up in a world of wonder as people grew more curious than scared. In the late 1700s, people started to notice how lethal these powers could be in the wars for freedom that would occur. So, the International Magical Ability Usage (IMAU) was created. 

IMAU was ran by a single representative from each country. They made the laws that people with powers must follow and the punishments that went with breaking them. They restricted the everyday use and made it illegal to use in public, regardless of your country. IMAU is also responsible for the 195 subsections of the organization dubbed the Ability Entitlement Labeling Association (AELA). A fancy name for a document of every power known to man. It was a way of organization to make people feel in control. 

AELA centers belong in the capital of each country and have even smaller corporations if there’s a need for them. In the United States, the head AELA exists in the District of Columbia and each state has a corporation in their own capitals. Through their system, AELA has found several different categories of magic, but the two big ones all abilities fit into are physical and mental. Mental abilities are ones that change a person’s mental state or what they can do solely with their mind. Physical abilities affect the world or the person themselves. Physical abilities are the more popular of the two because they are flashy and showy. The rarest of physical abilities are ones of elemental control. Being able to affect fire, air, water, or the earth is something to be proud of. 

With IMAU and AELA, researchers have found that powers form around the ages of four to six. The room for error came from those early birds and those late worms in their studies. They’ve also noticed that over the past century, people have been gaining more than one ability, inheriting the traits from both of their parents' bloodlines. The result makes some children very interesting with great potential to be the heroes that cities needed, especially the larger ones. There have been some cases where people would try to marry the most powerful suitor in hopes of having the “perfect” offspring.

However, there are some exceptions to IMAU. The people who were born like those before the 1600s. No magic whatsoever. They are the “Powerless” but the official name is non-magic civilian (NMC). Powerless are seen as lesser beings, not being able to do anything magical is considered weak. Only a small percent of the world were like this, _ weak _.

At a young age, Gavin already knew he was different. His sixth year after being born had gone by and October 7th of 2009 was coming around and nothing had happened. His mother was gifted with “Repair”. Anything broken? She’s your gal. His father had “Cybernetics”, a simple ability to make anything with a circuit board come to life (very helpful in the electrician field). Their own parents had similar abilities, respectively. Gavin didn’t really care what his would be, he just wanted something. It would’ve been the perfect birthday present. Finally not being teased on the playground and showing he was as cool as his older half-brother? Nothing would’ve been a better gift for his golden birthday. 

And then came October 7th. No miracle. He had waited for the whole year… but there was nothing. He figured he was a late bloomer and hoped it would be this next year. October 2010, nothing had happened. 2011? _ Nothing _. 

Gavin felt scammed. This was how it was going to be for the rest of his life? A sort of emptiness in his chest when people would ask, “What’s your power like”? He decided that he wouldn’t let this take him down. If there was some power above that said “He can’t have one”, Gavin was going to show it that there was nothing Gavin Reed couldn’t do.

So, for his tenth birthday, he asked his parents to pay for self-defense classes. 

But, self-defense classes wouldn’t help anyone in this situation. Trapped in a room with no way out. A room that was currently under the surveillance of a supervillain. _ Why couldn’t Tina have been a small-time hero? Not one with some big enemy that could kidnap me? _

Gavin had woken up because he had choked on the cold, dry air surrounding him. After some manual breathing, his skin started to remind him of the temperature around him. He shivered as a low, rumbling sound rang out. A gnawing pain was growing near his waist and his dry mouth was begging for some water. He had tried the sink in the connected bathroom, but no dice, the water wasn’t drinkable.

Gavin tried to think positively. He could’ve been left on the floor, left without blankets, left without a proper bathroom. But he was pissed. He had worked too hard to be back in a place like the one he escaped eight years ago. No water, no food, no money, and an asshole of a landlord. Except this landlord was a lot worse.

Frostbite was known by many as the terrorizer of Michigan. He was cold, stern, and eerily quiet. When he did speak, his words were full of wit and distance. He had dark blues and black in his outfit, going along with his ice abilities and clashing with the bright pinks and greens of Blossom’s, his mortal enemy. Tina had stopped Frostbite millions of times over the past few years, debuting around the same time and immediately choosing the other to be their big star rival. With their mutual decision, Frostbite and Blossom would go back and forth, trying to beat the other until one submitted to them or the law (respectively).

Frostbite had powers that the AELA called “Snowfall” and “Frostbite” (creative). From what they could observe, the supervillain could produce ice and snow from just about everywhere regardless of the season. Snowfall was in regards to the snow and ice that excreted itself from his fingertips. He could form sculptures of ice and blizzards with a flick of the wrist. Frostbite was from the freezing ability his breath had. Anything that he blew on could be frozen solid, if he wanted to. It didn’t help that he was jacked and never gave up.

That’s what Gavin knew at least from his research and just the common knowledge of the public. Nevertheless, he had to find a way out and find a way out soon. Frostbite had had some hostages before. They never made it home.

—

Upon the insistence from his body, Nines made himself something to eat, thinking the warmth would maybe help his killer headache. It was a treat to have a nice meal for once, even if it was just vegetable soup. He was only given nice food when mother made it, that hadn’t happened for a while since-

_ BANG! BANG! BANG! _

Nines’s head throbbed in a deep way, pulsing fervently against his cranium. His patience was wearing thin since the loud noises have been occurring for the past hour or so, another reason he longed for comfort food. His temper finally met his match when even after the initial three knocks, they continued.

“Would you stop that racket?” Nines shouted through his teeth towards the door. 

“You’re an asshole!” the prisoner replied back. “I need nutrition to, you know, stay alive.” 

“You had dinner before I brought you here.”

“And that was how many days ago? I can’t really fucking tell!” the ringing stopped for a moment, “At the very least I need water or something. Your precious abductee will not do you any good if he were to die of dehydration, would he?” the words were almost drowned out by a crash through a different door, the front one. The migraine only pulsed more and his mind blanked in agony. Nines’s arm was yanked from behind, startling the man and causing him to freeze where the assailant grabbed.

“Nines! What the hell were you thinking?” a higher voice than his own called out. “You idiot, you’re overusing your ice. You are gonna hurt yourself if you don’t stop.” Six’s voice melded with everything else in the background. “Nines, are you okay?” Six had dragged him to the lone, stuffy couch, not that he remembered the walk over, only the small zap to his wrist made him focus. 

“I’m fine.” He gritted out, hoping the words would calm his older brother. “It’s really whatever, bad migraine again.” Six sat next to him and held his hands with a worried look in his eyes. He smelled like alcohol and drugs again, smoke and bile lingering within the fibers of his slightly discolored button up. _ Someone probably lost a finger earlier for that. _ His hair seemed out of place and his face red in an oval shape by his eye. _ Someone definitely lost a finger earlier. _

“You’re having a lot of headaches lately, do you want me to get you some med-”

** _“No medicine, I’m fine, Sixes, it’s just this hostage.” _ **

—

The sergeant paced around the office like a madman. His best friend had been missing for over three days and there was little to no progress on his case. Though some would say he was killed, he just knew that Gavin wouldn’t just let himself die. But the fact of him being an NMC really did not steady his worry. He really needed some sort of hint as to where the hell his buddy was.

“Do we even have any leads, any at all?” he muttered to himself, thinking aloud to kick-start his brain in any sort of way. The person had to have been smart, essentially making Gavin disappear into thin air. The hard part would be taking him away with nobody noticing and still out of the line of sight. Someone had to have been helping him if he didn’t have a technology-related power or hacking abilities.

“Lieutenant,” Connor called over to the man’s messy desk, “are there any people with abilities that mess with technology?”

“The only one I know is—“ 

“I know.” 

Elijah Kamski. Gavin’s half-brother who Gavin disconnected from after Elijah graduated high school when he was 15. His ability was “Technophile” and can construct and deconstruct anything with little to no effort. Combined with “Insomniac” and Elijah was pretty much the most innovative man in the past two decades. 

He had started a project called Cyberlife, an industry about bringing cheap technology that was normally expensive to the lower class. He was inspired by his brother and his lack of powers, not being able to do the same as other people. But Gavin hated the man for his savior attitude and claim to be doing this for their family. After it was up and running, he retired early and has been living alone for the past three years. 

Connor had visited him a while ago because Gavin refused to see him and their parents wanted to deliver a package. But to Connor’s knowledge, Gavin had last seen him at Elijah’s wedding twelve years ago. However, the thought of Elijah helping was ridiculous. What benefit would he even have?

“Please just look up any other possibilities. He wouldn’t have helped.” 

—

“Fuck you, Gavin. You don’t get anything to drink. You have to just die of thirst.” Gavin mocked his kidnapper’s baritone voice, shouting at the end for emphasis. His mouth was dry and the coldness that always lingered in the room wasn’t doing any favors. Obviously banging on the door got the idiot’s attention, so he figured it was the best means of action. “Hey fucker, I might pass out soon due to abandonment!” A shuffling came from the other side of the door, suggesting he came back from wherever he went after that loud noise. He figured it wasn’t the police since he knows Connor would’ve checked every room immediately and he didn’t think anyone knew it was Frostbite who had taken him, yet.

“What do you need, exactly?” Gavin would’ve sighed gratefully if it were the same voice from a few minutes ago.

“Great, another asshole to deal with,” he muttered with an eye-roll. “I need—”

“If you truly want something, you should treat me and my... associate with more respect, Gavin Reed.” The brunette scoffed lightly at the words. “And you should also act less brash than normal. Your attitude is starting to be quite cumbersome.”

“Irritate you? Were you the one who was taken away from their home and forced into captivity because someone has a grudge against your girlfriend?” _ Silence. _

“Didn’t think so.” Gavin took some deep breaths. “Now, I need some sort of hydration because I haven’t had anything to drink because your sink in the bathroom only gives rusty water and I can’t drink it.” His stomach rumbled loudly. “I’m also starving since the last time I ate was the night before you kidnapped me, whenever that was. Not like I’d know because of the windows or lack thereof.” 

There was still only silence causing him to groan out of frustration. “Are you serious right now?” _ Nothing _. Gavin exhaled through his nose.

“Well whatever then! I’ll just wither away to nothing!” He growled and flopped on the uncomfortable bed. Gavin tossed and turned under the comforter. Ever since he essentially passed out on the first night (day?), he had been struggling to fall asleep due to the flat and tiny mattress. The thing itself could barely be considered a cushion anymore. If he was blind, Gavin would probably assume he was lying on the concrete floor rather than a mattress, that’s for sure. The blankets were very musty, filling up his nose with memories of the first time Connor had let him into a crime scene (after a lot of persuasion). 

_ Huh _. There was a sort of melancholy feeling, thinking of that case. It didn’t end well. The victim had been abusing the suspect during the past three years of employment with him. However, the employer used his power so his employee couldn’t leave. They found housekeeper hiding in the attic, afraid to flee the scene after he stabbed the man almost 30 times. 28 stab wounds exactly. Connor worked his magic, “Polygraph”, and got the man to confess, reluctantly. While they were transferring him to his cell, the suspect screamed and cried before he grabbed one of the other police officer’s guns and shot at Connor and then himself from the stress. Connor obviously made it—the bullet went clean through his left shoulder—and he worked on ranking himself to Sergeant within the following year.

When Gavin woke up, he didn’t even realize he fell asleep. His back ached and neck popped every time he moved it. The tension between his shoulders wouldn’t relieve itself, regardless of the angle of his arms or how hard he tried to stretch the muscles. Gavin felt gross and couldn’t shake the feeling of dread he had when he tried to clean his hands in the brown and orange sink. 

The brunette flicked his hands of the rusty water but paused when he smelled something new. The smell of something that wasn’t the stuffy scent of the bed—which had filled the entire room and Gavin had been getting used to (sadly). He glanced carefully and found the culprit. Something was by the door.

_ A bowl? _With further investigation, Gavin found it to be luke-warm vegetable soup with a spoon. Next to it was a glass of water. Within minutes, the bowl, spoon and glass were alone and Gavin’s stomach didn’t feel so empty and throat not as dry. His tired eyes traveled to the shelf beside him. Curiosity swept over him. He grabbed a good chunk of the dusty comic books, he might as well do something until he passes out.

—

“Thank you, Six.” His voice was reluctant. It didn’t matter who it was, apologizing or expressing gratitude was hard for Nines. His throat clenched and the words almost refused to escape.

“You’re my brother, Nines. We have to stick together.” 

“Never knew you to be so sentimental.” He joked, Six was the leader of a crime ring after all. The older brother’s stare was similar to his younger brother’s powers, icy and could freeze you in an instant. Nines had been at the end of his brother’s gaze many times and it never failed to make him stop in his tracks.

“Shut up, brat.” Six gently hit his younger brother’s back. He would’ve hit his head, like usual, but that probably would’ve caused Nines a lot of pain.

“There’s the asshole I know.” The slight smile on Nines’s face was irregular, and probably only because of the pain-killers Six forced down his throat, regardless of his protests.

“Aren’t you known for being quiet?”

“I use that time to save up so I have more jabber-fuel to talk nonstop to you to annoy the shit out of you. Specifically you.” 

“Fuck you.”

“Gross.” 

“Asshole.”

“Prick.”

“Nuisance.”

“Are you sure?” Nines nodded. “Alright then, I’m going to head home. Don’t be afraid to call.” The blue-eyed boy saluted and carefully stood up. He stumbled slightly, but regained his footing before Six could notice. The trek to his bedroom was only slightly exhausting, but well worth it when he fell onto his bed with a tired sigh. His mind swam, skin ached, body worn. He heard the front door close as a thump rang from the room beside him.

“WHAT?!” A low groan filled the room as the thin walls carried the shout of upset into Nines’s room. He took an extra pillow and slammed it over his head, trying to block out the pest’s noises. It was frustrating that the hostage never knew when to shut up, and that his room was right next to Nines’s. “WHY WOULD SHE EVER CHOOSE HIM?” 

_ ...what? _

“They are not a good pair, Mynx should totally be with Torah instead! Why can’t she see that Ryne is going to hurt her!” the exclaims were quieter, but were clearly the result of some rant. A rant about Ryne… and Mynx. 

_ Who the hell were Ryne and Mynx? _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hopefully, chapters won't take as long, but who knows.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed! 
> 
> Leave a comment if you want and a kudos if you feel like it.


	3. Final

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all, note from author. 
> 
> I kinda left the DBH fandom a while ago. Don't get me wrong. I fucking love this game, the actors, the ships I ship, I just don't really want to write this story anymore. 
> 
> It was a lot of fun being in the Reed900 BigBang and I've made friendships and connections I'll cherish for forever.
> 
> But this story needs to die lmaooooo
> 
> So this chapter is all of what I have written. Not super in order, but there are notes along the way that I made originally to assist me in placement of the story.
> 
> The story was to continue with Nines slowly getting closer and closer to Gavin, Gavin confused on whether he loved Nines or Tina, and Connor eventually finding out about his past (Eiden if you couldn't guess. I thought the name was clever).
> 
> The whole headache thing is related to Amanda. I called one of her powers "Take Over", she can inhabit a living body when she dies but it causes great pain to the person and she has to fight to take over. She obviously chose Nines and the rest is history.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> BEFORE YOU READ (if you do) there are parts I was in the middle of rewriting, so if you read parts that seem to contradict/repeat, it's because of that and I wanna leave everything here. 
> 
> Please enjoy what's left of this fic. 
> 
> Have a good night people!
> 
> (i didn't fix the paragraphs because it's late and I don't really care right now <3)

(Scene for some point)

“Today’s the eleventh, yeah?” Nines nodded, dates were not important. “Your article was supposed to be published today.”

_ What? _

“The eleventh of November was your debut four years ago. I thought it’d be appropriate.” 

_ My article? _

“Obviously, you got in the way of the whole writing process, but I get my research done two months prior, so I know all about you, fiend.” Nines was silent. Too silent. _ Shit. _

“So you’ve only been playing dumb? I thought that was just you.” Gavin intensely glared at Nines, resulting in sore cheeks to hide the small smirk wanting to reveal itself. “By my article you mean for your column, yes?”

“No, I mean for my stalker blog on thefrostcanbiteme.com.” His eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not that Gavin could see under the mask. Knowingly, Gavin continued, “That’s a real thing and it’s undoubtedly the unholiest website I have ever been on. I had to delete it from my search history so my boss wouldn’t fire me. You somehow have fans.”

“

(This is just a part I wanted later lmao)

“Reed, do you have a good poker face?”

“What the hell does that mean?”

  
  


—

  
  


“You really don’t want to play me, Frosty. I’ve spent enough time gambling—“ 

“Humor me.” Frost’s mouth quirked up on the right side, making for an odd sight that Gavin wanted to... 

“Then give me something to play for.” Gavin’s idiot side spouted out, ignoring the stray thought that flew by. The villain paused as he reached up in the cabinet to grab something the man couldn’t see from where he was.

“What do you want?” _ To go home. _“Besides the obvious.”

“What will you give me?”

“You should think more in the regions of, what are _ you _ willing to give _ me _ if _ you _lose? I have everything you could possibly imagine. Money, freedom, reputation, knowledge… I even have you until your lover decides to give me what I want. What do you have, Gavin, that I could possibly want?” Gavin was silent, words refused to roll off his tongue. He really didn’t have much to give this man. The usual quick witted comment wouldn’t allow itself to come forward.

“I’ll give you a freebie today, pet,” his words sounded amused as he spoke. Frost placed a bottle of whiskey on the table between them. “Today, I want that whiskey, and you are currently in possession of it.” A chill ran down Gavin’s spine as a small case was brought from under the table and set on top. Frost set up the chips and started shuffling the cards in under a minute. 

He held out the deck towards Gavin, “Would you like to see a magic trick? No actual magic involved.” Dark eyebrows gave the man no true answer to the question, but he continued anyway. Pale fingers gracefully flipped and spun the cards before he slid them onto the oak, avoiding the poker chips. “Take nine cards, any nine, doesn’t matter from where. Don’t look at them. ” Gavin hesitantly did what he was told, taking the cards. “Place them into three piles of three.”

The cards were worn, years of using the same deck over and over making them not as slippery as they usually are. _ All that money he claims to have and he can’t buy a ninety cent pack of cards? _“Now what?”

“Pick one of the piles and look at the bottom cards, memorize it, suit and number.” _ Nine of hearts. _“Place the pile you just looked at on top of whatever pile you want, and then put your new pile on the last one. Now for this trick, you need to be able to spell, you can spell right?“

“Fuck off.” The brunette scoffed causing the other male to slightly smile again. _ Maybe… _ “What do I need to spell?” The smile stayed.

“The number of your card. Take your pile of nine and deal out the number of letters in your card and then put the rest on top.” Frost demonstrated it and Gavin followed, dealing four and stacking. 

“Then deal two for the word of.” The magic participant followed then waited. “The suit.” Six cards were laid for hearts. “Now, spell out your name and keep the extra in your hand.” Gavin looked skeptical but did as told. The ‘suddenly now I’m a magician’ man pointed at the top of the pile. 

“No fucking way.” He flipped and there was the nine of hearts. “You’re kidding me. You didn’t even touch the cards.” The other man just shrugged with a slightly more pronounced grin and placed the nine cards back into the deck, continuing to mix them up, twirling them again like he’d obviously practiced before. _ It’s like Connor and his damn coin. _

_ — _

“Now onto poker. You know the rules, but I play it different. As you can see, there are Minimum bet to bet is 300, dealer has to put 50 in the pot and non dealer has to put 100.

  
  


//on a balcony or some reason now//

“Good game. You’ve won whatever you want, Gavin. What would you like?” Nines spoke with no fear whatsoever. There was absolutely nothing his prisoner could ask for that he wouldn’t do.

“Anything?”

“Well, you know the limits.”

“What if I wanted to ask you to become a genie so you have to give me three things?” Gavin pushed, Nines rolled his eyes.

“One thing, Gavin.”

“Fine…” he paused, obviously thinking about what he could do. Nines’s eyes traveled around the room, staring at the cracks in the ceiling, the weird gap where the door frame meets the wall, the small splits in the wood around where the spare room’s door knob because of it being ripped off a few years ago.

“What’s your name?” 

_ What? _

“Your actual name, not some bullshit nickname or anything. Birth name, what your parents called you.” Nines could definitely say he did not expect that. 

“Really? This is what you want?” Gavin nodded. “My name? Why my name?”

“You didn’t win did you? Come on, it’s my prize.”

“Nines. That’s what my mother called me.”

“Nines? What the hell kind of name is that? Are there more of you named Ones through Tens?” 

“My brothers’s names are Sixes and Ei—“ Nines stopped himself. 

“Sixes… is he the one who lives here too?” 

“Sometimes, he doesn’t have to hide out in this shithole when he lives above his bar.”

“You don’t like it here either?”

“It’s horrible. I wish I could go somewhere else but I’m stuck here because I’m…” Nines trailed off looking at the empty alleyway beneath them. 

“Stuck here? No one is ever truly stuck anywhere, not until they’re in the grave.” He scoffed with anger and pain, the migraine that had disappeared a few weeks ago came back with pizazz. Now he really wasn’t in a good mood. 

“You say that but you’ve had a goal. Prove powerless aren’t to be frowned upon. What kind of goals do I have? **Rule the world. Simple as that.** ” Something was weird. He didn’t want to say that. “ **And I’m afraid you’re going back to your room.**” Nines was confused as his body moved on its own

  
  


“You won one question, choose wisely Gavin,” he didn’t even need to think.

“Who is Niles Stern?” Gavin’s voice was firm and left the villain speechless for many long minutes.

“I’ll let you choose a different question since that one is a waste.” The villain brushed off the silence, but his evading was obvious to the seasoned reporter. So he pushed.

“You said _ any _ question beforehand, Frosty. Besides, if it’s a waste that’s my fault, isn't it? So, who is Niles Stern?” The mask always covered the other’s face in a way in which Gavin could never tell what he was thinking. Frost took a sharp breath before exhaling.

“He died a long time ago. That’s really all he ever accomplished.” The taller man noticed how the journalist visually showed he unsatisfied with the answer. With another sigh he continued, “He used to live here a long time ago with his older brothers, Silas and Eiden, and their mother.” 

“How did he die?” 

“I told you, Gavin. One question only.”

“When I said who is Niles Stern, I meant everything about him, Wendy.” The other man scowled at yet another stupid nickname. 

“I could kill you with the snap of my fingers.”

“I won fair and square, smartass.” Gavin knew by his body language alone that he rolled his eyes as he turned away from him looking at the city streets. The bearded man stared at the brown curls on the back of the cold soul’s head until he finally complied.

“The brothers were as thick as thieves and acted like little criminals too. They made a game out of stealing their mom’s things. One time Niles either had to steal the most important thing out of their mom’s room or do something incredibly embarrassing in front of her which would probably have him end up in trouble immediately. He opted for the stealing… it didn’t go well.” Gavin noticed how the story seemed to be easy for him to tell but difficult to muster the courage to speak it. 

“Eiden, the oldest, was born with powers which let him see if someone was lying to him and he had a very visible tell if they were. In turn, this let their mother see through their lies but he always evaded it with sly and evasive questions. But on that day, their mother forced her hand and made him say word for word her questions… but he refused.” He turned towards Gavin with blank eyes hidden behind the white mask. “‘I won’t let him get hurt because you don’t believe my brother when he said he didn’t do it.’ After that, Eiden disappeared, and Silas and Niles died because… their mother went crazy and refused to give the two food.” 

Gavin gave it some thought, turning around to lean his back on the metal railing. His eyes wandered to the almost lifeless blue ones beside him and felt pity. There was something that he wasn’t telling him. 

“And then you moved here and didn’t care to move his stuff? Why do you know all of this anyway? I guess my question was wasted if you had to lie to answer it.” He flicked his hand dismissively as the same blue eyes widened. “I get it, I won’t get my story that easily.” He heard the familiar stutters of an embarrassed source which he had missed the past few weeks. Like riding a bike, prying for information came easily. “I’ll just have to open that box.”

“What… what box?” Frostbite interjected, almost like he was showing an emotion of worry. His posture immediately shot up from the relaxed one he had had only moments earlier and the air around them now chilled Gavin’s skin. _ What don’t you want me to know, jerkwad? _Gavin’s eyebrow quirked up and he smirked slightly.

“I thought the deal was that if I won I got to ask a question, not that you got to if you lost.” 

Time seemed to freeze in that moment, or maybe it had just slowed down before it went too quick. Sure, Gavin had been brought to the edge of death by his kidnapper due to his recklessness and complete lack of knowledge for how to take care of anyone, even himself. However, Gavin, not once in the almost two months he had been there, had never been struck by the villain. The pain came like a wildfire, slow to start but fast to spread. He could feel the bits of ice that were left from his palm on his cheek.

** _“You are not anything to me except a pest, do not expect me to… to… tolerate your refusal to submission. You should since you’re just another nobody.” _ **

The words went in one ear and out the other.

** _“I think your time outside is done for today, Gavin.”_ **

He didn’t remember how he got to his room.

—

** _I’ve been too lenient with you._ **

_ — _

  
  
  
  
  
  


\--

Gavin laid in the too small bed for a long time. He hadn’t seen Frost for a few days, or what he could guess was a few days, the only time was a slight glimpse of a sad face when he left some food and water. It was painful to be away from the truthfully sad and soft boy that hid behind the pure white mask. 

_ Painful? This man has murdered men in literal cold blood. _

_ But the _

  
  
  
  


(Later, while I remember my ideas)

Gavin screamed out for Nines, hoping for his words to make it through to the man he knew, not the one in front of him rampaging through the streets with powers he didn’t have. They held no merit as the villain sneered away from him, his pure white eyes engraved into his brain.

**“You hold absolutely no part of his heart, Gavin. You can stop trying because this is what he truly wants, to rule the world. You are nothing but an unneeded playtoy I tried to use to make him one step closer to domination. You distracted him instead and forced my hand. His conscious will never see the light of day again and it’s all your fault. Don’t worry you won’t live for very long to ponder and regret it.” **Niles, no, the possessed body aimed its next attack towards the already frozen brunette, kept in place by fear, regret, and shock. He wasn’t ready for any sort of rejection when all he saw were signs of affection towards himself.

“Gavin!” a feminine voice screeched as vines wrapped around the stunned body and yanked him to the top of a building a few blocks away. He didn’t even realized that the vines were replaced by green and pink suited arms which squeezed tightly around his rib cage. 

“Tina?” His tongue provided for him while all he could hear was some happy sobbing. He gave into the hug and pulled her even tighter, his own tears finally pouring. The small smile Gavin had for a fraction of a second disappeared when he saw a big flash of light blue hurtling through the air toward the pair. With no time to get Tina to turn around and use her vines, Gavin did what he had to do to protect her. It was a stupid decision really.

\--

The city

\--

Nines only saw red, literal red in his eyes. The ache came back with his consciousness and his stomach dropped with the sight. _ He _ wasn’t on the top of the building anymore where he’d last saw _ him _ before he blacked out, rather, _ he _ was on the streets again at the end of an alleyway. The force of the blast his mother shot out threw _ him _ across the sky. _ His _ face wasn’t visible due to Blossom rocketing over to _ him _ and wrapping her body around _ him _ . Nines noticed even if he was in control, his body still didn’t move, nothing moved, except the world around him. When he focused, he could hear Blossom crying loudly while _ he _ assured her _ he _ was fine.

** _Why didn’t you let me finish the job? I finally eradicated the one who was holding you back… I see. You wanted to do it yourself. Now go on and finish--_ **

“No.”

** _What did you say to me?_ **

“I said, no. And I won’t let you finish the job.” Nines saw Blossom turn around with fury shown by the purple mist around her mouth. His body flinched (“That’s fear,” _ he _would’ve said) and when he blinked she was up on the building. “You don’t get to hurt him anymore.” The suit-clad woman’s rage increased.

“I hurt him? He has broken ribs and who knows what else is shattered, and you’re saying I hurt him?” Nines was stuck. Mother was going to regain control again, if that’s what his headaches had always meant, and he didn’t want to hurt _ him _again.

“Blossom,” she replied with nothing but a growl, “please make it so I don’t hurt anyone anymore, while I’m still in control.”

“Wow, playing the ‘I’m can’t control my own body’ card. I’ll throw you in prison to rot, Frostbite.” He keeled over in pain as she finished her words, landing hard on his knees with his head in his hands.

“Up until today I’ve been in control, yes. But she’s pulling the strings and I don’t want her to hurt anyone else ever again, especially Gavin,” he screamed as his whole body throbbed and tears ran down his face. “Please, I’m begging you. I don’t want her to kill him! He is the only thing I’m fighting for!” His vision went foggy as the pain slowly subsided,_ he was losing _. His eyes flicked up and he noticed the fuzzy confusion spread upon the blurry superheroine’s face. 

He didn’t know what else to do to protect him. It was a stupid decision really, _ but it was the only one available. _

\--

In the alleyway where he was dragged to by Tina, Gavin struggled to stand. His whole body ached, though he supposed that kind of happens when you get thrown off the side of a four-story building by the man you’ve been having mixed feelings for. He was lucky that his arms only had horrible scrapes and maybe a broken wrist compared to his ribcage that felt like he was going to concave into nothing. Gavin felt the blood running down his face from his mouth and broken nose, the taste making his stomach lurch (he may frequently get into fights, but that doesn’t change the fact that blood tasted nasty). 

His first attempt at standing was a complete failure since his right leg shot the same amount of pain it had before, causing him to keel over and cry out. Not even the strongest of men could keep the suffering he felt internalized. But his stubborn attitude made him fight through it all for_ him _. He bent his left leg this time and used his unbroken wrist to lift himself up, surprisingly managing to prop himself on the cold brick wall his back was against moments before. Using the wall as a makeshift crutch, leaning heavily on his right side and hobbling himself towards the entrance of the alleyway only to see something falling from the building he was on moments ago.

_ No. No, he wouldn’t. _

“Nines—“ he coughed loudly, tears welling in his eyes from the heavy pain lying in his throat. His fingers were numb and knees weak. He could see Tina coming closer, the bright pink was a real giveaway even with the blurriness.

“Gavin,” she began but he kept trekking forward. “Gavin, you need to stay down, you’re in too much pain to be walking let alone standing.”

“Don’t tell me what I can do, Tina, it’s your fault I’m like this. If you wouldn’t decided that one day at the bar to save me like you do the whole rest of the world, then I wouldn't have been held hostage, taken by the most evil man in the tri-state area. If you would’ve just stayed an underground hero, then I would’ve been fine. Why did I even meet you?” His words spewed out in rage and pain not truly having any meaning behind them, though the way he spat them out made Tina flinch. He coughed loudly, wheezing before he lost his grip on the wall, sending him to the ground. He groaned in pain as his vision started fading. He felt his heartbeat in his temples and his ears started to ring. 

“Are you okay?” her words were soft, as if she knew a shout would hurt more. Gavin blinked rapidly, mind spinning in 


End file.
